When you get pulled over for speeding in Georgia, you may feel that you will have to strain yourself financially to take care of the ticket. You may also be dreading the points that will be recorded on your driver history and the insurance rate increase that goes with it. However, in Georgia, all is not lost yet; you will have an opportunity to beat your speeding ticket in court. You might be able to get the ticket thrown out with no fines or points or insurance hikes.

Fighting the Ticket
First, read the ticket and see when you have to appear in court to enter a guilty or not guilty plea. You will want to make sure you can appear in court that day and be sure to be on time. The judge will ask you about your plea and you will need to respond that you are not guilty if you want to contest the charges. You will then likely get another court date in the near future when your actual trial will start. If you want to avoid the initial court date, you can also enter your not guilty plea by mail.

Once you receive a court date, you will want to appear in court on that day fully prepared to make your case. The officer who pulled you over will testify as to why you were given the ticket in the first place and you will have to show why you are not guilty of the infraction in question. The best arguments include those that involve the ticket being invalid, incorrect, or improperly issued. Inspect the ticket with care and see if there are any factual or typographical errors. If there are, make sure the court sees those errors and ask that the ticket be dismissed due to the mistakes it contains.

Reduced Fines
During your first court date, you may be asked if you would accept a reduced fine and punishment in exchange for a guilty plea. Think about those scenarios in advance and decide what you would find acceptable and what kind of deal you cannot agree to. It is easy to be caught off guard by these offers when you are not prepared. Sometimes, considering a smaller fine and fewer points is worth it since you could still be found guilty at a full trial and that would require you to pay the entire fine.

If you end up paying any fine, bring cash to the courthouse because the state of Georgia does not accept personal checks for these fines. While it might be hard to remember the details of the traffic stop if the court date is delayed, this can work to your advantage because the ticketing officer may not remember the details either. In Georgia, there are no traffic schools or alternative payment schedules so when you have to pay the fine, you simply have to pay the fine or else accept the alternate punishment.